On the 7th of February 1964, at 1:20 pm EST, The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McArtney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, arrived in America at John F. Kennedy International Airport from London aboard Pan American World Airways’ Flight 101, a Boeing 707-331, serial number 17683, N704PA, named Jet Clipper Defiance. They were welcomed by an estimated 4,000 fans and 200 journalists. Show This was the performers’ first visit to the United States. During their three week tour, they were twice guests on “The Ed Sullivan Show”, with each live television appearance being watched by more than 70,000,000 persons. They performed concerts at the Washington Coliseum, Washington, DC, and at Carnegie Hall, New York City. The Beatles returned to the United Kingdom, 22nd of February 1964. British rock group The Beatles (L-R: George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney) wave as they board an airplane to begin their first American tour (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) The Boeing 707 was developed from the earlier Model 367–80 prototype, the “Dash Eighty.” It is a four-engine jet transport with swept wings and tail surfaces. The leading edge of the wings are swept at a 35° angle. The airliner had a flight crew of four: pilot, co-pilot, navigator and flight engineer. The 707-331 is 152 feet, 11 inches (46.611 meters) long with a wing span of 145 feet, 9 inches (44.425 meters). The top of the vertical fin stands 42 feet, 5 inches (12.928 meters) high. The wing is considerably different than on the original 707-120 series, with increased length, different flaps and spoilers, and the engines are mounted further outboard. The vertical fin is taller, the horizontal tail plane has increased span, and there is a ventral fin for improved longitudinal stability. The 707 pre-dated the ”wide-body” airliners, having a fuselage width of 12 feet, 4 inches (3.759 meters). The airliner’s empty weight is 146,400 pounds (66,406 kilograms). Maximum take off weight (MTOW) is 333,600 pounds (151,320 kilograms). At MTOW, the 707-331 required 10,840 feet (3,280 meters) of runway to take off. The –331 was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3 turbofan engines, producing 18,000 pounds of thrust, each. Its maximum speed is 0.80 Mach (552 miles per hour, or 889 kilometers per hour). It had a range of 4,298 miles (6,920 kilometers). Pan American World Airways’ Boeing 707-331 N704PA, Jet Clipper Defiance, at Stockholm, July 1966. (Photo by Lars Söderström) The Boeing 707 was in production from 1958 to 1979. 1,010 were built. As of 2013, just ten 707s were still in service. Jet Clipper Defiance was originally registered to Trans World Airways as N771TW, but never delivered. (It carried a Trans World Airlines model number, 707-331, rather than a Pan American code, 707-321.) It was then sold to Pan Am, delivered 23 March 1960 and registered N704PA. Late in its career, it was leased to several smaller airlines. It was scrapped at Long Beach, California, June 1977. Previous History Hour installments: First Production of MiG-15 First flight of MiG 17 prototype Operation Chopper took place in Vietnam One kilometer Farman flight F-15 first 10,000 flight hours First scheduled Concorde takes off USAF F-51D Mustang retires Mach 3+ prototype bomber XB-70A made last flight Text author: Bryan R. Swopes
George Harrison was the first Beatle to do many things. He was the first Beatle to score a No. 1 hit as a solo artist, and he was technically the first Beatle to quit the band. But most fans don’t know that George was also the first Beatle to travel to America. He’d already been to the States a year before The Beatles started the British Invasion and played on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The Beatles came to America in 1964One of the most significant dates in Beatles history is Feb. 7, 1964. That’s the date that The Beatles first landed in America. They left 4,000 screaming fans at Heathrow Airport in the U.K. and were greeted by 3,000 screaming American fans when they arrived at J.F.K. Airport. Two days later, on Feb. 9, they played on The Ed Sullivan Show to a screaming live audience and 73 million viewers at home, 34 percent of the American popular at the time. During their visit, they also performed at the Washington Coliseum and then back to New York for a couple of gigs at Carnegie Hall. On Feb. 22, they played on The Ed Sullivan Show again, this time in Florida. The Beatles’ success on their first American tour ultimately influenced other British bands to come over to the States in what has come to be known as the British Invasion. But most of the screaming fans who greeted The Beatles on their first American tour didn’t know that the British Invasion technically started the year before. RELATED: George Harrison’s Wife Olivia Cherishes the Song Written About Her But It Isn’t Her Favorite George Harrison visited America in 1963A year before The Beatles touched down at J.F.K. Airport in 1964, George landed in America for the first time. He was going to visit his sister, who was living in Illinois. “I’d been to America before, being the experienced Beatle that I was,” George recalled in the 1995 Beatles Anthology documentary (per Rolling Stone). “I went to New York and St. Louis in 1963, to look around, and to the countryside in Illinois, where my sister was living at the time.” By September 1963, The Beatles had already had three No. 1 singles in the U.K. and had released their album Please Please Me. Their popularity was skyrocketing by the hour. So the band agreed that after all their hard work, they needed a much-needed vacation. So, John Lennon took his wife Cynthia to Paris, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr went to Greece, and on Sept. 16, George flew to America with his older brother, Peter, becoming the first Beatle to do so. The Harrison brothers stayed with their eldest sister Louise ‘Lou’ Caldwell’s home at 113 McCann Street in Benton, Illinois. Lou had recently immigrated there with her husband Gordon, an engineer at a nearby coal mine. Benton, Illinois, is a small town, but George welcomed the quiet because of Beatlemania. No one recognized him, and he was able to experience some American staples without hassle. The siblings camped for a few nights in the Shawnee National Forest and ate at a burger joint, where George was shocked to see the waitresses on roller skates. But while George was getting the R&R that he very much needed, his visit quickly turned into a missionary trip, as he brought The Beatles to Illinois. RELATED: George Harrison Wrote a Heart-Breaking Song About Breaking up With Pattie Boyd George Harrison played with another band during his trip to AmericaDuring George’s visit, Louise introduced him to Gabe McCarty, a local dry cleaner who also played with a band called the Four Vests. McCarty became George’s tour guide, but one of the biggest places he took George was the record store. George bought many records and singles. However, when he asked an employee if they had any Beatles records, she gave him a confused look. So George went over to the WFRX-AM radio station in West Frankfort and gave them his copy of “She Loves You.” They gladly played the song, which they’d never heard before. While Stateside, George also bought a 400 dollar Rickenbacker 425 solid body and had it painted black. George agreed to play a gig with the Four Vests at a VFW Hall in Eldorado, Illinois, to show off the new instrument. They announced him as “the Elvis of England.” This was the first time any of The Beatles played a show in America. RELATED: George Harrison Wrote a Tribute Song to John Lennon After He Died George and the band played “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox,” and Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” A man in the audience approached George at the end to tell him: “With the right breaks, you could really go places.” George’s next stop was St. Louis and New York City. In the Big Apple, George was like any other sightseer. He had no idea that in the next year, he’d be in the same city with thousands of fans chasing him. That was probably his last vacation in peace, where he could go where he pleased without being recognized. |